Empire of the Plant People
by Ij500
Summary: When a hole swallows up the turtles and a friend, Crane, Danny, Serena, and Mikey come to the rescue and discover a dark plot in the process.
1. An Underground Discovery

**Note: I don't own anything except my OC's.**

 **Rights for the plot and characters belong to their rightful owners.**

* * *

 **The Discovery**

 **Serena's P.O.V.**

Whoo! Nothing like a party to make you feel alive nowadays. I was at a party over at Nico the cheetah's house along with my brother Danny, Crane and the turtles; Leo, Raph, and Mikey. Finals were almost over and he invited the whole school to come to the party, whether anyone had one last exam or not. Crane and I were sitting inside on the couch while others were either inside partying and chatting, or outside dancing away. Leo, Raph, and Dannie were outside while me, Crane, and Mikey were inside drinking soda.

"Aw yeah, this is how we party. Yeah!"

"(chuckles) Mikey's enjoying himself."

"He's lucky he only had just two exams, one of them with his smart brother."

"What do you mean?"

He looked around and made sure nobody was listening to us first. He then turned in his seat to whisper to me.

"Donnie told me he had to sneak his answers to Mikey."

"They are ninjas," I said to avoid any suspicion Crane doesn't want. "They know how to be sneaky on our missions." He knew what I was talking.

Eventually it became nighttime, some students stayed while others left at evening or now.

"Time for us to go Mikey." Leo said

"Now? The party's still going Leo, we can't leave yet."

"If you don't get up, Splinter will pound us into the ground for being late. Then I will pound you some more for making us late." Raph threatened, but I wasn't scared of him.

"Raph, lighten up. It can't be that serious."

"Last time we were sleepy, it was training in the morning. Splinter laid into us just for being sleepy."

"That's your problem, not ours."

"What?"

"Take it easy Raph, we can talk about this later. Mikey."

(groans)

Boy, sometimes I wonder why they're even related to each other.

"Time for us to go as well. We can't stay here all night, otherwise we'll get another lecture from Shifu."

"Yeah, Po fell asleep through his last one and had cleaning duty." Danny laughed

We left Nico's place, got back to our dorm, and got some shut-eye for the night. The next day, the same six of us were over at Nico's house again for a friendly hangout. The turtles were tossing a football around playing Hot Potato. Me and my brother were playing as well, but Crane chose not to.

"Nice shot Serena, but let an expert show you how to really throw a football."

He wound up and used all he got to throw it halfway across the backyard, and Mikey caught it before it went into the neighbors yard.

"Whoa Raph, chill out. This ain't a championship game."

"Yeah, we lose the football you'll be the one to replace it."

"What?"

"No argument there."

"What are you youngsters up to today?"

"Hey Miss Rose." Nico said. His neighbor was Miss Rose and she was the sweetest lady on the face of the earth. She was also a gardener and her garden was proof of it.

"We're just tossing a frisbee, how about you?"

"Oh, i'm taking care of my children."

"Children?" We all asked at once. Well, all except Nico.

"She meant her garden, guys."

"My plants, my dear sweet plants. They need a lot of well, care. Especially on a hot day like this. See all you darlings later."

"Bye!"

"Later!"

"See ya!"

"Goodbye!"

"What a nice lady." Danny said

"Yep, again, nicest lady on the face of the earth." Nico agreed

"Alright, enough chitchat. You guys need a real lesson in football throwing. I'll show you all how to put a little zip on this thing."

"Take it easy, Raph. The yard isn't that big." Crane shouted

"Oh yeah, we'll see about that. Just watch."

He spun around once and gave the frisbee a good throw. I watched in shock at how fast it was going and we all saw it disappear into Miss Rose's garden.

"A little too much zip, eh tough guy?"

"Ah, don't get your tail in a twist. I'll get it."

"Me too, it's my football you lost." Nico said

"I'm going too, to see if Raph actually tries to help. If not, i'll help look for it."

(growls)

So the three of them climbed over the fence and we started waiting on them.

"New rule: when they get back, Raph gets the ball last, after everyone else gets a shot." I spoke.

"Yeah"

"Agreed"

"Totally"

(screams)

"Whoa dudes, did you guys hear that?"

"What could that have been?"

It was definitely Leo, Raph, and Nico's voices we heard, but why were they screaming?

"Leo, Raph, Nico? Where you dudes go?"

Crane and Danny were over by the fence looking over into Miss Rose's garden. Me and Mikey peeked as well and we all saw the football in the garden, but none of the guys were there.

"The football is still there? What the hell is going on?"

"It's like they dematerialized, vanished and I don't mean by ninja style. Let's see if we can't reach them via electronically."

"Huh?" Mikey asked

"The videophone, dimwit." Danny answered annoyed.

We hopped over the fence and made our way to the football and tried to contact the guys. I turned and saw Laptrap drop the juice he was secretly bringing,(Nico doesn't know about Laptrap), and called out to him.

"Laptrap, over here!"

"Hey guys, where the hell are you?"

Leo: _"Not sure, all we know is that we fell through a hole in the ground next to the football. We're in some kind of underground chamber or something."_

"How's Nico holding up?"

 _"A little shook up from the surprise and a little hurt from the fall, but we're fine."_

"If we can reach you electronically, we can reach you physically."

"Don't worry bro, we'll find wherever you are. You're coming with us, dude."

"Oh great, an underground rescue mission. Just what I need."

 _"Anytime you need advice or help, give us a call."_

"Check. The bag I hid Laptrap in can be used to store anything we need or find."

"This may be dangerous, but i'll help too. I can keep track of our progress and location."

"Alright, let's jam. We've got a problem to fix!"

"Yeah, except how are we supposed to go underground in a hurry?" Danny asked, but then a giant hole opened under us trying to swallow us. Luckily me and my brother grabbed the edge and Crane grabbed Mikey and brought him up.

"Ask the giant hole that just opened." Crane said sarcastically and flew down. I was next to go, and no doubt Mikey and Danny came as well. We got to the ground and started walking down the corridor. The whole tunnel was filled with muck and grime, and then we came to a big door.

"Whoa."

"What the-?"

"Looks like some sort of blocked access encryption device." Crane spoke. I knew exactly what Crane was talking about, but Danny and Mikey didn't have a clue.

"Huh?"

"Any chance that's a egghead way of a locked door?"

"(sighs) Yes Danny, it's a door lock that can only be opened by answering the security questions on the locks."

"Oh."

"I knew that."

"Yeah right shell-head. I'll bet we can figure out the answers by reading the text over here."

"These arrows on the locks can help us get the right answer on the lock."

"We should then pull on the handle to open the blockade."

"So let's spring this lock already and find out what's back there."

We worked together to unlock the door using the correct answers on the locks. (Lucky Crane's with us. Out of the group, Tigress, Donnie, and Crane are the smartest ones.) Once we got all the locks opened, we were able to open the door.

"Aw yeah, that's how we roll."

"Don't you mean how _we_ roll, you didn't do anything except pull the handle."

"Anyways, we got the door opened guys." I intervened.

"But what's back there?"

We began walking down the tunnel (or at least, it looked that way) and we saw a cliff up ahead. We got down on our hands and knees, and we saw something extraordinary.

All of us: "Whoa!"

There was plants of all shapes and sizes and they were alive. Alive! It looked like they were doing a bit of training.

"This is amazing!" I whispered

"This has been under Nico and Miss Rose's yards? Unbelievable."

"Intruders! Seize them!"

"Time to go guys!"

"Which way?"

(shuffle)

"Hey!"

"MMMMMNNMNMNMNM!" I muffled. Something had grabbed us from behind and covered our mouths. It dragged us into a hidden tunnel, so the plant guards couldn't find us. We then saw a little plantling in front of us.

"Shhh, don't say a word. I'm on your side."

"Doubtful." My brother said

"Who are you dude?"

"My name is Ficus, I live here." Typical for a plant to be given that name.

"An underground civilization of intelligent plants? This is phenomenal!"

"We've been down here for centuries, and nobody's ever known about us, until now. Something's gone wrong; our soldiers are acting crazy. They've taken animal civilians captive, and they're preparing to attack the town!" Ficus explained

"Whoa."

"My friends and I have been trying to talk some sense to everyone, but no one will listen. You've gotta help us! Please?"

"Sure, if you help us. Our friends have disappeared down here, do you know where they are?"

"I don't, but our leader will. You've gotta get to the throne room, but you can't go through the main gate. The guards would capture you. You'll have to go the back way, and that means building bridges over the Bottomless Pits."

"(Gulps) Bottomless... Pits?" Mikey asked in fear.

"Don't worry, if you use petrified wood planks the bridges will hold. But the planks are scattered all over the kingdom, and some of them are even guarded by soldiers."

"We can overcome any obstacle, where do we begin?" Crane asked

"Look around, now i've gotta get out of here before they notice i'm gone!" Ficus said and he left to get back to his place.

"Let's get moving, if we need help we have the guys on the videophone." Danny said.

So now we have a plan: find the wood planks, build the bridges, get to the throne room and rescue our friends. Something in my gut says this won't be easy, but if Raph was here, he wouldn't mind it being hard.

 **Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.**


	2. Underground Expedition

**Underground Sleuthing**

 **Danny's P.O.V.**

Well, this day couldn't get any worse. After finding out our friends Leo, Raph, and Nico fell underground and taken prisoner by hostile plant people, we came down and discovered a plot to overthrow the town above. We're currently navigating through this mucky tunnel locating bridge planks to build bridges over the Bottomless Pits to get to the throne room.

"You think Nico knew he had talking plant dudes down here?"

"Doubtful, cause if he did he would've moved away years ago."

"Hey guys, look up ahead."

Serena went ahead of us and we followed her to a huge clifface. The first I saw though, was the nasty plant up at the top.

"Sis, watch out!"

"Relax Danny, he can't get to us from up there."

"Yeah, but we can't get to the bridge plank up in the clifface either."

"Oh yes you can!"

I turned and saw Ficus standing next to me.

"Hey Ficus my man, er, plant. What's the story here?" Mikey asked

"This clifface has fault lines in it. You can crack them open and get that plank."

"How?"

"With words. Certain hidden words cover the main fault lines."

"He's right." Laptrap added "I can see the cracks with my sonar, i'll project clues for the words on the fault lines."

"Make sure to crack the letters in order, starting with the first letter of the word."

"Hey sis, hold this for me."

"Uh, okay. But why do-?"

I gave the videophone to Serena and began walking over to the clifface. It looked a lot bigger up close than from a distance.

"I'm ready."

Laptrap projected the clues for the fault lines and gave the first word.

"To go below the water's surface."

"Dive! Easy." Mikey bragged.

"Actually Mikey, there's another word for that." Crane corrected

"Yeah, it's spelled like this." I added and began hopping on the letter tiles one by one. S-U-B-M-E-R-G-E

"Submerge."

Then I heard rumbling and the clifface started to shake.

"Whoa!"

"Careful Danny, cracking the fault will make it unstable by the minute."

"Like I don't know that. Next word Laptrap!"

"The source of something."

Source of something... Source of something- ah! Got it. O-R-I-G-I-N

"Origin."

"Just one more word and the clifface will crack."

"To make something better."

"That's easy." I-M-P-R-O-V-E

"Yikes!" I felt the clifface giving out and collapsing so I hopped and landed back at the bottom of the clifface. All that debris kicked up a lot of dust cause I couldn't see or breathe.

"Danny!"

"Dude."

"Danny, where are you?"

(coughs) "(pants) Man, that was intense."

"Danny!"

As soon as I got up, my sister threw herself against me as she hugged me.

"I'm fine sis. It'll take more than this to get rid of me."

"I'll never understand why you like a little danger now and again."

"Danger makes life exciting."

"(ahem) As much as I hate to ruin the moment, we still have work to do. Look!"

I turned and saw another level of the same cliff.

"Laptrap's sonar indicates that once this layer is gone, we'll get the plank."

"Right." I said disappointed. Back to work for me I guess. Once we got the last three words completed, I jumped down from the clifface and the plank came down.

"All right. We scored our first plank dudes."

"Excellent job Danny."

"Thanks."

With that taken care of, we kept moving to find more planks.

* * *

 **Third Person P.O.V.**

The team kept navigating through the tunnels until they came to a big gap in the path.

"Oh man, a huge unbridged chasm. Total bummer."

"The walls are too vertical to traverse."

"Huh?"

"He means, we can't cross along the walls."

"Not to mention big brother, the huge slab above. That could come whacking down on anybody and it would hurt."

"It would however, make an excellent covering for the opening. Maybe there's a way to make it descend down and bridge the gap."

"Well, there are words on the slab and sentences on the steps. If we fill the empty spaces with the right words, that might do the trick."

"Let's do this."

Danny and Mikey gave Serena a boost on their shoulders as she grabbed the words Crane told her to get. She then handed the words to the boys and got down. Once the words put in the right places, the slab came down and closed the gap.

"We're outta here." Danny and was the first to cross. The rest of the gang crossed as well and kept moving until they came across another plant with a bridge plank. Everyone took cover on opposite sides.

"Watch out. That plant has three heads and they all look hungry."

"They are hungry. Now listen, if you feed the plant the right stuff you can get the bridge plank it's guarding."

"Whoa dudes, what's that smell?"

Everyone smelled what Mikey was smelling and nobody liked it. Crane took a peek and saw 2 chemical pools on his side.

"It's from the chemicals in those pools."

"Chemicals?" Danny took a peek and saw 2 on his side as well.

"Hmm, my databanks inform that certain combinations of those chemicals might temporarily render the plant inert."

"You guys have been listening to brainiacs talk too much."

"Knock the plant shell-brain. Unconscious, bye-bye, a blank video screen."

"Oh!"

"I'll even give you the formulas."

"Use the measuring cups to scoop the chemicals you need from the pools, then dump them into the correct buckets. You can also use the measuring cups to scoop chemicals out of the buckets. Fill each bucket with the right amount, then dump them into the plants feeding bowl."

"Good thing Donnie and I had chemistry classes together. I learned a lot from him and now I can put it to good use. Let's go."

Crane grabbed the measuring cups and flew over to the chemical pools needed to knock out the plant. He then dumped them into the buckets and once the first bucket was done...

"Danny, this one is ready."

"On it."

He grabbed the bucket and dumped it into the plant's feeding bowl.

"Come and get it." Serena said. The first head swallowed the meal and fell asleep.

"Now for the next dude."

Second bucket...

"Here planty, planty. Dinner!"

The middle head swallowed the meal and fell asleep. The plant was struggling to keep its grip with only one head awake. Finally, the third bucket was filled.

"Feeding time." Crane said. The last head was so hungry, it swallowed as it drank the meal. It fell asleep and dropped the plank it was guarding.

"3 strikes and he's out. Let's nab that plank and bail." Danny quickly retrieved the plank and everyone left the sleeping plant.

"2 planks acquired, but we'll need more to build a bridge."

"Agreed." Everyone said and they all kept moving until they came to a locked wall with questions and answers.

"Another access encryption device. Well, we know how to solve it." Serena spoke

"Yeah, just got to find the right answers again."

As they were solving the questions...

"How do you think everyone is holding up?"

"Everyone?" Crane repeated

"My bros and Nico."

"Leo might be trying to negotiate, but Raph might not have the patience. Nico however, who knows how he's handling this."

"The sooner we get to the throne room, the sooner we can rescue them and the other hostages."

Once Crane was sure of the correct answers, he told Mikey to pull the switch and the locks all opened up on the first try.

"Nice dudes, got all three on the first go."

The door then opened up and everyone made their way through the tunnel and their next challenge soon came up.

 **Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.**


	3. Underground Expedition Part 2

**Underground Sleuthing part 2**

 **Mikey's P.O.V.**

Whoa, this is a long tunnel. Hopefully we can find Nico and my bros soon and we can-

"Hey, there's a plank down there." Serena said

"I'll get it." I bolted for the wooden plank only to get tackled from behind.

"Hold up shellhead, look up there." Danny said and tilted my head to show me four plants hanging from the ceiling.

"Don't try to go in there. This cave is guarded by those plants along the top of the entrance. If you go in now, they'll clobber you with their spores." Ficus explained.

"So how can we surmount these obstacles to our engress?"

"Huh?"

"So, how do we get the bridge plank?" Serena explained

"Those berries over there can stop the spores before they hatch."

 _'The spores can hatch?! Oh god."_

"Each berry works on a different type of spore. Each plant has a leaf with a different equation and a matching spore bouncing around the chamber. Find the answer to the equation and then, fling the correct berry at the matching spore. But watch out! Every time you hit a spore, the equation on the matching leaf will change."

"If there's one thing I'm good at, it's throwing stuff. I can throw ninja stars, water balloons,-"

"How about you stop talking and get ready to help?"

Yeesh, somebody's got his feathers in a bunch. Anyway, the spores started coming out and we had to dodge a few as Crane deduced the answers, Serena passed us the berries and me and Danny threw the berries. We had to deal with 8 spores altogether before the plants tired out.

"Our enemies have exhausted themselves. Let us claim our reward." Serena spoke

"I got just the trick for that plank."

I pulled off a break dancing spin and threw a berry at the bridge plank. It bounced over to us, we collected it and kept moving.

We navigated around the plant kingdom locating bridge planks and dodging nasty plants. After getting our 5th plank...

"Hey what's that?"

We noticed a wooden stick in the middle of the opening. It had a dent in the middle of it.

"It looks like a walking stick, but not one I've ever seen before."

"That's a walking stick?" I couldn't believe that this was an actual walking stick.

"Of course it is Mikey." Serena answered. She then picked up the stick and held it to examine. "This one has been handcrafted, in a somewhat exotic way."

"How do you know that sis?"

"I took a Visual Arts class back in school. I have an eye and taste for arts and crafts."

Wait a minute...

"I think it looks familiar. Like I've seen it before."

"Mikey's right. Wow, never thought I'd say that." Crane said and he's right. I don't always have bright ideas.

"(gasp) This is Miss Rose's walking stick."

"Miss Rose, sweet lady, elderly, calls her plants her 'children', that Miss Rose?" Danny said concerned.

"That means those nasty plant dudes got her too!"

"Not that sweet lady, this is intolerable. We need to construct those bridges, come on!" Crane said and went off. We all followed him as we race through the tunnels to get the last plank.

* * *

 **Serena's P.O.V.**

After getting the last plank, Ficus guided us to the bottomless pits to build the first bridge. After we crossed an unbridged chasm, we came up to a huge gap.

"Whoa, look at the huge gap."

"This must be the back entrance to the throne room." I agreed.

"It is. You'll have to rebuild the abandoned bridges across these 3 canyons to reach the throne room."

"Are you saying we have to cross THAT?" Laptrap said all freaked out

"Oh yeah, but don't worry. These rope bridges are rock solid if you build them right."

"Right." I doubtfully said

"No really! These petrified planks are from our ancestral trees. Each plank is marked with the name of an event from the year the tree fell. If you arrange the planks from newest to oldest, the bridge won't even sway when you walk across it."

"If you're not sure what date an event took place, just look in my reference section."

"Ugh, couldn't we just sneak past the front?" Mikey complained

"No way! There's way too many guards."

"Okay then, let's get building. The sooner, the better."

Danny and i displayed the planks and with Crane's knowledge and Laptrap's information, we tied the planks from newest to oldest. Once the last plank was in place, we were done.

"Alright, we got the bridge done!"

"Yeah, only one out of three. We got two more bridges to build."

"Which means we need to locate and procure 12 more planks."

"Then we better get moving."

We went out in the tunnels to gather more planks and after getting our 3rd plank for the 2nd bridge...

"Hide!"

My brother grabbed me and pulled me behind a plant big enough to hide two of us. When i got on my feet, Mikey and Crane did the same thing and already hid behind another plant.

"It won't be long now, the tunnels are almost finished."

We looked and saw two plants talking. They didn't notice us.

"They don't stand a chance, we overwhelm them."

"First, we'll destroy their power lines and disable their communications!"

"Then, haha we'll suck down all their businesses and factories!"

"Then, we'll make them do what we want!"

(evil laughter)

"Dudes, this is like no joke." Mikey whispered in a worried tone and i agreed. Ficus was serious about this invasion.

"We must stop their evil plan." I said without alerting the guards. Once they left without noticing us, we continued on our quest for bridge planks. After nabbing our last plank for the 2nd bridge, we went back to the Bottomless Pits but we discovered something else bad.

"Wait!"

"Hold up, is that Nico?"

Nick was being led somewhere but he saw us and waved. The guards didn't notice and kept going.

"I don't see my bros with him."

"Does anyone else notice how green he is?"

With that much green, i can only think of... Oh no.

"Oh no, he's turning into one of them."

"What?"

"No way!"

"Yikes."

"Yeah, that's the only reason he's green like he is."

"This is bad, we better find the others before they really veg out." Mikey joked. Although there was concern in his voice, he tried to lighten up the mood. We crossed the unbridged chasm and walked across the first bridge to get to the 2nd canyon to make the second bridge.

"Six planks to make one bridge, coming up." Mikey said and gave us the planks to build the bridge. Once the last plank was tied, we managed to cross the bridge to the third and final canyon.

"Alright guys, this is the last bridge."

"Cool."

"We're almost there."

"Let's get those last planks and build this bridge ASAP."

We then set off to gather the last of the planks and rescue everyone.

 **Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.**


	4. The Root of the Problem

**Getting to the Throne Room**

 **Third Person P.O.V.**

The Cluefinders were gathering planks for the final bridge to get to the throne room. They had split up to try and get more planks. Laptrap was with Danny and Mikey as Danny was hopping on letter tiles to crack a cliff face.

"Whoa!"

The cliff face collapsed and the second layer was revealed.

"One layer down, one to go."

"Aw yeah, we gonna be at that throne in no time."

Meanwhile, Serena and Crane and Ficus were slinging berries at spores to get to the bridge plank. Serena knocked out the second green spore and the yellow plant shot out it's first spore.

"Here you go."

Crane tossed the berry to her and she flung it at the spore. The next spore was sent out and after dodging it, they took it out.

"Looks like they tired out. Let's get that plank."

"Observe my remote retrieval technique."

Serena flung the berry and bounced the plank to them. They grabbed it and left for their next plank. After getting past a locked door, they reunited with Danny, Mikey, and Laptrap.

"Hey guys, we got four bridge planks altogether."

"Just a couple more, and our destination is within reach."

Just then, Mikey noticed something in the wall.

"Ew, what's that?"

He pointed at a stream that was pouring in from a hole in the wall. Up close it looked like it went up to the surface.

"Whoa, it looks a little nasty." Danny said as they got up close to it. Dany then smelled it up close, but not too close.

"Yuck! Smells even worse."

"This appears to be some sort of industrial waste. It must have seeped down from a polluter on the surface. I don't get how the plants can tolerate this."

"You think this might have something to do with how their acting?"

"Probably sis, probably."

So they continued and came across plank number 5.

"Welcome to the chemical diner." Mikey joked and Laptrap added on as well.

"Hi. My name is Laptrap and I'll be your waiter tonight. Here's the menu!"

Laptrap displayed the formulas and they began filling the buckets and feeding the plant.

"Let's feed this guy."

They dumped the first bucket knocked the first head out.

"Another victim please." Serena joked. Second bucket and the second head was knocked out.

"Now, for the next guy."

Final bucket was dumped and the plant fell asleep and dropped the plank.

"Three strikes and he's out, let's nab that plank and bail!" Mikey said and grabbed the plank. That's five planks obtained, one more to get. They navigated across an unbridged chasm by bringing the slab down and Danny got to hopping around on a cliff face.

"Man, will i be happy to stop doing all this jumping around. My legs are killing me!" He whined and finished the last word for the 1st layer.

CRASH!

"Almost there dude, just these last 3 words."

"Yeah, yeah."

Danny got to hopping and spelled the last three words:

I-M-M-E-N-S-E

F-I-E-R-Y

A-S-S-O-R-T-I-O-N

"Whoa!"

CRASH!

The bridge plank came loose and Danny caught it.

"Last bridge plank. Throne room, here we come!" He spoke as the Cluefinders raced through the kingdom and got to the last bridge. They wasted no time in building the bridge.

"How about here?"

"No, that event didn't happen at that year." Crane said

"Well, i do know this goes here."

Eventually, they got the bridge done and crossed it into the throne room. They went in, but stopped when they reached the edge of a cliff.

"Whoa!"

"Careful!"

"Here we are, the throne room!" Serena whispered.

"It's amazing we managed to get this far undetected."

But Crane spoke too soon when plants came down and grabbed him, Serena, Danny, and Mikey. They wrapped around everyone's mouths so they couldn't make a sound and were sprayed with knockout gas. Then, plant soldiers came and carried them down to the throne.

* * *

 **Danny's P.O.V.**

Ugh, what was that? Something snagged us up and sprayed us. Next thing i know, everything goes black. Where are we?

"Wake up dearies."

That voice! I know that voice. I opened my eyes and saw Ms. Rose.

"Huh? Oh, Ms. Rose! I'm so glad we found you. Are you alright?"

"Oh yes dear, I'm fine. Don't you think I'm looking well? Guards, bring the prisoners!"

Halfway through that sentence, she began to change. She turned into the biggest plant we've ever seen. Ms. Rose wasn't an animal like us, she was a plant.

"Whoa dudes. So, Ms. Rose is-?"

"Yes i am, the Leader of the plants. The ruler of a peaceful civilization that lived in harmony for centuries until people began to destroy us."

"The industrial pollution we saw earlier." Serena pointed out

"Exactly. It began slowly years ago, and at first our scientists were able to counteract it. But it steadily increased, and now it is overwhelming. Poisoning us and making us angry and aggressive! I had to disguise myself as an animal and go above ground to see what i could do, but it was no use."

"So you're gonna attack the entire town?" i asked

"Yes, but we don't want to. We're peaceful creatures, but we're fighting for our lives!"

"Wait, there's a better way."

"Yeah, we're the Cluefinders. We can help you!" Mikey agreed.

"You? How dearies?"

"We have laws in our city against polluting the environment." Crane explained. "If we can track down the factories that are dumping the pollution, we can stop them."

"If we can stop the incoming pollution, could you scientists purify the existing water?" Leo suggested.

"Yes, i believe they could. And then we wouldn't have to attack, and reveal our existence to the outside world."

"Set us free! At least let us try!"

"Alright sweeties. I'll give you one chance, but I'll keep a little hostage for security. Who will it be?"

After she said that, we all traded looks with each other. None of us wanted to play hostage, but we didn't have a choice. Who was gonna take the risk?

"Me. I'll stay."

"What?"

"Dude, don't!"

"Nico, it's dangerous!" Leo argued

"One of us has to do it. You guys know what to do. I'll be fine. I'm not worried about being hostage, because i know you guys will succeed."

None of us liked our friend choosing to stay here, the decision was already made. Nico was tied up so he couldn't escape and placed next to the Queen.

"Okay, here's the plan. Serena, Danny, and Crane will stay down here and purify the existing water, since you know your way around the caverns. Mikey, Raph, and I will track down the factories you tell us are dumping the pollution."

Serena and Me: "Got it."

Crane: "Understood."

Mikey and Raph: "Right."

"Then we agree. You have 8 hours. If you haven't stopped the pollution and purified the water, we attack. Understand dears?"

"Got it Queenie, we're outta here."

The turtles were taken to the surface while me, sis, and Crane went to purify the water. The fate of the city rests in our hands. We can't afford to fail!

 **Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.**


	5. Purifying the Water Part 1

**Purifying Sector One of the Plant Kingdom**

 **Third Person P.O.V.**

The Cluefinders were up against the clock now. They had 8 hours to stop the incoming pollution and purify the existing water. Serena, Danny, Laptrap, and Crane were heading down the tunnel to find one of the plant scientists to help in purifying the water.

"Thank you for coming, my friends. Welcome to my Laboratory!"

"Hey, thanks uh, sir."

"It's definitely an... interesting facility."

"Thank you. It may not be much, but it meets my needs. I have managed to collect samples from one of the streams of contamination entering our kingdom. But i haven't been able to figure out what causes the pollution."

"So what do you need us to do?" Danny asked

"You must apply your knowledge of chemistry and industry to determine who the polluters are."

"Perhaps we can utilize some of the reference material Donnie logged into Laptrap." Crane added.

"Excellent! Our scouts have gathered news clippings from the world above. This scrapbook contains clues that might help you identify where the pollution is coming from."

"I'll just scan those into my data banks."

Laptrap got a good look at all the news clippings the plant scientist had in his scrapbook and scanned them into his data banks.

"That felt great! Here, I'll project a list of the pollutants that the doctor has found along with a list of the most likely sources. I'll also display the reference data and news clippings next to the lists. Drag lines between the chemicals and the companies to show who is spilling the pollution. When you've identified all of the polluters, transmit your answers to the turtles and they'll visit each of the companies to check your conclusions."

"Right, let's do this." Danny said.

The pollutants they had to identify with was:

Phenol

Pentachlorophenol

Nitrates

Dioxin

Trinitrotoluene

The companies that were the most likely sources were

TNT Mfg.

Wood Inc.

Paper Mill

Gas Station

Glue Corp Ltd.

Sausage Co.

"That's a big list." Serena spoke

"Then, we better get cracking."

"Agreed, let's work to solve this situation expeditiously."

So the trio worked together to identify which companies was spilling the pollution. They managed to deduce it to:

TNT Mfg. was dumping Nitrates and Trinitrotoluene.

Wood Inc. was dumping Phenol and Pentachlorophenol.

Paper Mill was dumping Dioxin.

"Alright, Danny make the call."

"Got it."

He used the red videophone and contacted the turtles. Donnie and Leo popped up on the screen.

 _"Hey guys. My brothers filled me on what's happening lately. Is there really a plant invasion going on?"_

The plant scientist came up next to Danny.

"Yes my friend."

 _"Whoa!"_

"My home world is being polluted as we speak, but your comrades are trying to stop the pollution and save the Plant Kingdom before it is too late."

"I just sent the data about which companies are spilling the pollution. You should be getting the results shortly."

 _"Yeah, i can see it coming now. I'll give a few friends a call."_

Donnie then hung the call.

"You have successfully purified the water in this part of the Plant Empire."

"Already?"

"No, big brother. We just stopped the incoming pollution, we still have to purify the existing water."

"Exactly. Lets hurry."

They followed the scientist to a big machine.

"Welcome to the location of one of my greatest achievements: the Bacteria-O-Matic!"

"Bacteria-O-Matic?"

"This machine creates new forms of bacteria specifically designed to eliminate chemical pollutants."

"Unbelievable!" Crane said in an astounded tone

"All we have to do is grow the bacteria in sufficient amounts. But alas, my laboratory journal was damaged in an accident and some critical information has been lost!"

"Bummer, but that's not gonna stop us."

"Good. I will select the required bacteria and the machine will show the amount of bacteria needed right here. Then, I will magnify a page from my journal here. You must try to determine the optimum growing conditions from my notes."

"Deduction is a skill of ours."

"Then set these dials to the proper amounts and press the Add Bacteria button."

"Then they grow fast, right?"

"Yep, by design. The machine will show you how much you have grown here. If the bacteria do not reach the amount we need, none of the bacteria will survive. You will then have to adjust the dials and try again. Understand?"

"Affirmative."

"I will now use the Bacteria-O-Matic to create my first specimen. The name is... Fernolene."

The machine displayed the bacteria and how much was needed. The trio had only the notes and Laptrap's reference to determine how to grow the required amount of Fernolene. Once they grew the proper amount...

"Ho-ho, the growth is sufficient! My creation is ready to be used against the pollution! Thank you, my brilliant friends."

"No problem doc. Always happy to help."

The machine then created a container for the bacteria and it popped out of a slot.

"And the container with the bacteria goes into your backpack."

Crane then put it in his bag.

"But there is more to be done. The name is... Nuleous."

They got to work as fast as they could and finally managed to grow sufficient amounts of the bacteria. After that, the third bacteria they had to grow was called Grahameus. Once they completed that, they had all the bacteria they needed to clean up the water.

"Excellent! You have grown all the bacteria you need. Now, you must go to the Treatment Plant and put my creations to work."

So they went to the treatment plant and it was a long pipeline with yellow basins on different spots of the pipe. There were two handles on the pipe, one of them blocking the dirty water. There were also charts with information about how much pollution the water had and which bacteria eliminates what type of pollution.

"Is this where the water is purified? Amazing!" Crane said

"You are correct, my animal friend. Welcome to the Treatment Plant #1. I designed it of course. (chuckles)"

"So uh, how does it work?" Danny asked

"It is simplicity itself. First, you open the Main Valve here. The water flows through the long pipe, through all of the basins."

"These basins is where we put the bacteria to remove the pollutants."

"Yuck!" Laptrap said in disgust.

"Grow up Laptrap."

"You are correct young lady. This chart details the condition of the water at the beginning of the pipe and this chart explains what pollutants each bacteria can handle."

"Then we check out the water at the other end of the pipe, right?"

"Yes. If it is clean, all's well. If it is not, I'll show you which pollutants are still there and you re-arrange the bacteria."

"Flawlessly, Logical, process." Crane spoke "How do we begin?"

"Pick up bacteria from the dishes on the wall here. Put a dose of bacteria into as many basins as you like."

"What if we mess up?" Serena asked

"To change the contents of a basin, just put in bacteria from another dish. To clear a basin, use the neutralizing solution in this clear beaker here. When you are finished, open the Main Valve to start the water flow. Got it?"

"Got it." The trio said and got to work as fast as they could to eliminate the pollution. They had to eliminate 300 mg of nitrates, 120 mg of dioxin, and 60 mg of phenol.

The clock is ticking and time is running out for the trio.

 **Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review.**


	6. Purifying the Water Part 2

**Stopping the invasion and saving the Plant Kingdom**

 **Serena's P.O.V.**

We managed to purify the water in section one of the plant kingdom. We were just arriving at the throne room to tell Miss Rose and check on Nico.

"First mission accomplished. Area one has been cleaned up and we're on a roll."

"Good work, but don't celebrate just yet. There's still much to do and time is growing short. Whatever happens, i assure you, we will be prepared."

"We're proceeding according to expectations, and our confidence level is high."

I went over to Nico and his fur had changed color. He was light green and not looking good.

"Nico? Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll be... fine. You should go with Crane and your brother, you'll solve this problem in time."

I knew that if time went on, he'd get worse. But he was right about one thing, we can't stop now. All of Animal City is counting on us.

"Okay, we'll save you and everyone. Count on it!"

I then stood up and went to catch up with Danny and Crane. We had to decipher a new batch of pollutants and companies. Eventually, we deduced that the Cotton Farm company was dumping Arsenic and Nitrates, Electronics Inc. was dumping Methylmercury and PCB, and Plastic Corp. was spilling Vinyl Chloride.

"You know, some of these companies I've never heard of."

"Normally, you wouldn't. Big name companies aren't mentioned unless need be." Crane explained

"Really?"

"Yes, my brilliant friends. Just like now, you're learning of them." The plant doc added

Once we sent the intel to the turtles and they stopped the incoming pollution, we made our way to the Bacteria-O-Matic and made three new dishes of bacteria. The first dish was called Tainosa, the secons was called Bernabeus, (try saying that 3 times in a row), and the final dish was called Abrahamyte.

"Alright, we have the bacteria. Now to the treatment plant."

"We better hurry. Time is running out and we don't much remaining."

Danny was right. We only had 4 hours left before the plants attack the city. We went to Water Treatment Plant #2. This time we had to clean out:

120 mg of Arsenic

160 mg of Vinyl Chloride

280 mg of Methylmercury

Took us an hour and 15 minutes but we managed to finally get it right.

"Here we go."

Crane opened the main valve and the water flowed through the basins. When it went through the last basin, it was clean and the second section was purified.

"Yes, we did it. It's clean for the plants."

"One section left to go. Let's go tell Ms. Rose."

We made our way back to the throne to deliver the good news.

"Ms. Rose, we have successfully completed the 2nd section. Now only- (gasp) Nico!"

I stopped dead in that sentence when i saw Nico. He had gotten worse since the last time we saw him; he went from a skin of light green to dark green, and i might be seeing things but one of his fingers has a leaf growing out of it.

"Dude! Have you looked at your hand? There's literally a leaf IN it."

At first, he didn't say anything. I was really worried now so i went up to him.

"Nico?"

I pressed my hand against his face and he opened his eyes.

"S-S-Serena?"

"Nico, it's me Serena. We're almost done purifying the water. We'll get you out of here."

"Great... job. Don't worry... about... me... I'll... be... fine."

He then closed his eyes on me and fell unconscious again.

"Nico? Nico, wake up!"

He didn't move and i started to freak a little on the inside.

"This can't be happening. He's really-?"

"That's right. He's transforming, just as all our captives are transforming! We had to give him food and water and everything we have is polluted! Only pure water can save him now. Hurry, hurry! Do not delay."

"Let's go!" I said and without thinking twice, grabbed Danny and Crane and ran to the third section. We can't let Nico and everyone suffer a terrible fate.

 **Third Person P.O.V.**

The Cluefinders were in a desperate race against time now. Only 3 hours and 45 minutes were left on the clock for Danny, Serena, Crane, and the turtles. They were helping the plant scientist with deducing who was dumping Phenol, Arsenic, Sulfuric Acid, Methylmercury, and Pentachlorophenol.

"Here is the final stream of pollution entering our kingdom. Please use your brilliant knowledge to determine where the pollution is coming from."

So they worked as fast as they could.

"How's it coming Crane? We're all in a hurry."

"I'm hurrying! You could utilize Laptrap and help you know."

"I'll do it."

Serena opened Laptrap's reference section and she focused on Pentachlorophenol and Sulfuric Acid.

"Okay, so that one goes there and this one goes here."

"Got it. Here's the last one."

Crane added the last bit of info and made the final conclusion.

"Done Danny, happy now?"

"Only if you prevent a plant invasion."

Danny contacted the turtles and transmitted the data to the turtles.

"Hey D, here's the final list. We'll clean up the last of the water, you stop the incoming pollution!"

 _"On it! Good luck guys."_

Danny caught up with Crane and Serena and helped make the final three dishes of bacteria from the Bacteria-O-Matic. The first dish was Kellinosa, the second was Phanoli, and the last dish was Roseus.

"All right, 3rd batch complete and success is imminent."

"Only an hour left, we better step on it."

The trio raced to Treatment Plant #3 and began putting bacteria in the basins. They had an hour to eliminate:

60 mg of Methylmercury

160 mg of Phenol

300 mg of Sulfuric Acid

"Almost there. Just this last basin and... done."

"Crane, the Main Valve!"

"On it."

Serena, Danny, and Crane watched in suspense as the water flowed through the pipes. Each basin purifying the water from the bacteria contaminating it.

"I really hope this works, we only have 10 minutes left."

"Me too sis, me too."

Once the water got through the last basin, it was clean and purified.

"Success!"

"Alright!"

"Woohoo!"

The three of them hugged each other in happiness as they purified the water of the Plant Kingdom. Little streams, big rivers and massive waterfalls in the Plant Kingdom began to change from the contaminated water back into the clean water it used to be. Everyone (Cluefinders and the plant people) gathered in the throne room as the good news reached Ms. Rose.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

"I can't believe it! My kingdom is saved! All my plant children healthy! Oh thank you, my courageous, young friends. Thank you." She said with every ounce of gratitude she could muster.

"Aw don't mention it Ms. Rose. We're just happy to help, this is what we do."

"And now, I'll return your friend to you."

Two guards brought Nico out on a stretcher, and his skin was back to normal, his eyes were closed.

"Nico?!"

"Is he-?"

"Don't worry my dear," Ms. Rose reassured. "He's well. He's only sleeping."

"(sighs) Thank goodness." Crane said relieved.

"My guards will carry him up to the surface along with all the other animal captives who are sleeping as well. When they awaken, they'll remember nothing. Then, the opening to our world will be sealed, and we will able to continue our peaceful existence. Only the Cluefinders will know of our underground realm. Our secret must be be preserved, can i count on you?"

"You bet!" The three of them said together. Then, Ficus came up to them.

"Thanks again for all your help, guys. There's no way we could've stopped the invasion without you! I'm really gonna miss you."

"And i as well, am sad to lose such ingenious assistance."

"I'm gonna miss you guys too. It was so cool to meet you."

"At least we can depart knowing you all are happy and healthy."

Serena and Danny nodded their agreement and the trio began heading back to the surface. The plant guards brought Nico and every captive from Animal City up to the surface and then went back home. They waved goodbye to everybody underground.

"Farewell, heroic Cluefinders. Farewell!" Ms. Rose said as the opening sealed up slowly.

"Bye Ms. Rose!"

"Stay healthy!"

"Take care everyone!"

The turtles came up Danny, Serena, and Crane just as the opening sealed up. They explained to the turtles how everyone was healthy, and when the captives wake up, they wouldn't remember what happened.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and one final, important detail. Ms. Rose said only the Cluefinders can know about the Plant Kingdom." Serena explained. "Meaning me, my brother, Crane, and you four. Nobody else can know about this."

"Got it." The turtles replied and the sleeping animals began to wake up. Everyone helped them get back to their lives as if nothing ever happened. But the Cluefinders knew exactly what did happen and made sure to keep the Plant Kingdom a secret.

 **Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the story and please review.**


End file.
